Machine for treating fibrous plants



(No Model.) 6 SheetsSheet 1. J. L. MYERS. MACHINE FOR TREATING FIBROUS PLANTS. No. 476,160.

Patented May 31, 189.2.

6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. L. MYERS. MACHINE FOR TREATING PIBROUS PLANTS.

Patented May 31, 1892.

qwdmeoow 6 Shets-8heet 3.

(No Model.)

J. L. MYERS... MACHINE FOR TREATING FIB ROUS PLANTS. 'No. 476,160.

Patented May 31, 1892;.

wueu'coz & W. 33 Ly; 626420614041 lll , Q vitmaooeo me NORRIS PiTERS co., wow-mum, wnamuu'rnu, n.

(No Model.-)

' J. L. MYERS.

MACHINE FOR TREATING FIBROUS' PLANTS.

No. 476,160. Patented May 31, 1892.

, ilmlqilll|dll i l 1 (No Model.) 6 Sheets8heet 5.

J. L. MYERS; V

MAGHINE'FOR TREATING FIBROUS PLANTS.

No. 476,160. Patented Ma 'al, 1892.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

J. L. MYERS. I

MACHINE FOR TRBATING-FIBROUS PLANTS.

Pgtented May 31, 1892.

Qmi/tmaoow mares, u c.

NORRIS PEYERS co. mommum, WAS" NITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES L. MYERS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGN OR TO THE TROPICAL FIBRE MACHINE AND PROCESS COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

MACHINE FOR TREATINYG FIBROUS PLANTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,160, dated May 31, 1892. Application filed January 9,1889. Renewed March 4, 1891. Again renewed November 18, 1891. Serial No. 412,298. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: sition does not weaken the machine, and for Be it known that I, JAMES L. MYERS, a resithe most part extending along the line of one dent of New Orleans,in the'parish of Orleans or more of the shafts, to be hereinafter re and State of Louisiana, have invented certain ferred to, and opening into the edges of the 55 q new and useful Improvements in Machines plates or else into the slots. These elongated for Treating Fibrous Plants; and I do hereby slots are adapted to receive the sectional beardeclare the following to be a full, clear, and log or journal boxes A and spacing-blocks exact description of the invention, such as A, holding the boxes apart and filling the will enable others skilledin the art to which it spaces between them when two or more are So 1o appertains to make and use the same. located in one slot. After the parts are as- My invention relates to an improvement in sembledthat is, the jourhal-boxes are placed vegetable fiber cleaning and stripping main positionfollower-blocks A are placed chines, and is more particularly intended for over the open ends of the slots. By constructoperating on such plants and the leaves ing the frame as thus set forth it may be 65 thereof as the abaca, banana, bromelia, henereadily taken apart and the journal-boxes quin, agave, and pita; and it consists in cerneed not be kept carefully sorted, as they are tain constructions and combinations of parts, all interchangeable. substantially as hereinafter described, and Bis a feed-carrierframe secured to the main pointed out in the claims. frame and provided with an endless travel- 70 Reference is to be had to the accompanying ing apron or belt 0, arranged to pass at its drawings, formingapart of this specification, inner end around a feed-roller D and at its in which similar letters of reference indicate outer end around a tension-roller E, and the corresponding parts in all the figures. feed-carrier apron working in between cheek Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the or side pieces B consituting the sides of car- 75 machine, showing the outlines of part A of rier-frame B, takes up the portions of the the frame, the cheek-plate A, the side frame plants or leaves being treated. The feed- A, and some of the parts between the cheekroller D works in connection with a second or plate and side frame being removed. Fig. 2 upper feed-roller D, rotary motion being is a view in side elevation with the cheekgiven to these feed-rollers throughasprocket- 8o plate A and feeding and stop mechanism rewheel o and chain to from the crushing-roller moved. Fig. 3 is a broken view in end ele- J, as hereinafter described. vation ith h f eding and stop mechanism As the fibrous plants orportions of them are removed. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional being carried forward by the traveling apron view through the reciprocating cross-heads O, the upper feed-roller D is raised and disen- 8 5 5 and breakers. Fig. 5 is a plan View of the gaged from the lower feed-roller D, causing same, the parts being removed from each the roller D and the apron to cease movement other. Fig. 6 is a section on line a: w of Fig. at intervals, as shown in Fig. 1, and causing 5. Fig. 7 is a broken plan, the feeding and a stop board or shutter F to be brought down stop mechanism being removed; and Fig. 8 is upon a plate G, which latter constitutes afixed 9o a d t il, portion of the feeding device, in line with the A represents the main frame, and A the carrying-surface of the apron 0. This may outside check. The frame may be of any be done by fitting the top rollerDor its jours'uitable construction, but preferably consists nal-boxes and the stop-board F to work in of plates A and A slotted to make them as guides or grooves D D respectively, and con- 5 5 light as possible, and flanged around these necting them by a rocking beam or lever H,

slots and around the edges to prevent warpto which a lifting motion is given by a h ding. The edges of these plates are finished leverlto raise the rollerD' and lower the stopoff and stay-rods A pass through the plates board F simultaneously, as required. The oband outside cheek to form one solid continuject of thus raising the roller D and lower- :00 5o ousframe. The platesare also provided with ing the stop-board or shutter F is to close elongated slots A, so arranged that their podown in front of the foremost leaves or portions of the plants for the purpose of arresting them in their feed until their ends are evened against the stop-board by hand. Upon removing pressure from the hand-lever I the roller D drops into its normal position again, imparting motion to the lower feed-roller D and the apron O, the stop-board F rising at the same time to its normal position, when the feed-passage will be opened and the leaves will be delivered over the feed plate or table G to and between a pair of crushing-rollers J and J. As the forward ends of the leaves or portions of the plants under treatment pass from between these crushing-rollersJ and J, they come in contact with a concave deflector or deflecting-plate K, which directs the leaves in adownward course-between the crushingroller J. and'another crushing and gripping roller J in 'the same horizontal plane. One obj ect of. this arrangement is to give the leaves a vertical direction, so that they will be assisted in their downward course by gravitation. The material to be stripped then passes down ward through a brass trumpet K where it is op er-- ated upon by the double horizontally-reciprocatingbreakers MM. These breakers are of peculiar and novel construction, and a detailed description will therefore ensue. Each breaker consists of a cross-head m, to which are rigidly bolted, riveted, or otherwise secured elongated slotted brass plates m m, preferably two to one head and three to the other and at distances apart a little greater than their own thickness, so as to intersect or interlock with each other with a slight clearance m between them. Platem coustitute, a cover over the breakers, and the plates m serve as tracks on which the ends of the breakers 'ride',the tracks being supported suitably by the main frame of the machine. These reciprocating breakers are actuated through eccentrics M mounted on driving-shaft a. The usual straps M M are loosely mounted on these eccentrics, and they are connected by rods M to the breakers M M, the inner ones M to the breakers M and the outer pair M to the breakers M. The relative positions of the two pairs of; eccentrics are to be'noticed in this connection. It will be observed that the two pairs extendin exactly opposite directions, and the object of this arrangement is obvious when the operation, which is as follows, is understood: The passage forthe material is through the slots 8 in the breakers. Now the'successful operation of the breakers is dependent upon this passage being alternately opened and'closed in a very rapid succession, resulting, respectively, from the alignment or nonalignment'of the said slots 3. Now if all four eccentrics projected in the same direction the plates would reciprocate together and the passage would always be opened or closed, as the'case might be, but by projecting in precisely' opposite directions the eccentrics reciprocate the breakers simultaneously in opposite directions, so that by one throw the position of the plates is such that the material is at the outer side of the slots and at the next throw at the inner sides, and so on, butat each time a throw is made the continuous passage, though being opened for an instant, allows a little more material to pass. Thus the j fiber is held in' a'rapidlyvibrating zigzag,

anism: The eccentrics, instead of having a fixed position on the shaft, areeach provided with an elongated slot 11, through the center, made of suitable size to receive the shaft a,

and each eccentric preferably having a scale l a on its edge, so that the lateral projection of the eccentric upon the drive-shaft may be changed or varied by changing its center on the shaft from one extreme of eccentricity to not so great an extreme. The eccentrics may be held in such position by means of a strap 0 fast on shaft a, and screws 0 whereby the strap is secured to the eccentric. Thus the throw of the breakers may be made greater or less, avoiding the use of breakers with broader or narrower slots, which would otherwise be necessary in order to accomplish the same result. brushing and wiping drums P P.

The leaves next pass between These drums preferably have grooved surfaces and are faced with brass, the latter beingriveted thereto or otherwise secured with the meeting edges of adjacent strips projecting to- ICC scrapers e, which serve to brush and, wipe from-the fiber any adhering pulp orsubstance left after its passage through the reciprocating breakers above. Said drums are coupled to rotate in concert by means of gearing p and p and made to revolve and reverse alternately, as hereinafter described. In this connection it is well to explain that it is important in reversing the drums that no time should be lost by a gradual stopping of the drums, but on the contrary that the stopping before reversing should be as nearly instantaneous as possible. To this end an enlarged hub or drum P having, preferably, a grooved periphery, is made to project from one or more? of the gear-wheels P in position to be operated upon by a strap fast at one end and attached at its other end to brake-lever P", as shown in Fig. 2. By applying this with a slightelfort the drums are stopped at once. The mechanism by Whichthe reverse motion is given will be hereinafter described. After the fiber has passed down from and between the drums Pand P a sufficient distance it is gripped by the lower rollers Q and Q, both or either of which may be driven by suitable gearing. The drumsQ, .Q having taken hold of the fiber or material, the brush and cleaner IIO drums P and P are reversed, thus keeping the fiberstraightened or held perpendicularly 'while being brushed or wiped and allowing it to be carried through the grip-rollers Q and Q in an untangled mass, conveying it to th delivery-apron S. r

The lower grip-rollers Q and Q can be made of any suitable materia1,and one or both may be made elastic, but preferably one at least is made so by facing it with rubber, as indicated at q, Fig. 1, and one or both of the rollers may be driven through the engagement of wheel a with one of the intermeshing gearwheels g on their shafts.

S is an endless apron passed around the roller Q, whereby it is driven, and an outer tension-roller, and serves to deliver the fiber from the machine. Uis another endless belt arranged to pass around the elastic roller Q and serves to prevent the fiber from wrapping around the roller Q, and at the same time to drive the sheave-apron V.

Z is a pulley fast upon shaft 0., which, as before stated, carries the eccentrics, and which also carries a fly-wheel A similar shaft Z also traverses the machine from right to left and is provided on one end of it with a pulley Z in close proximity to pulley Z, over which drive-belt 0 passes, and on the other end with pinion Z meshing with a gear-wheel Z on the end of the shaft J This same shaft also carries a small pinion a immediately back of gear-wheel Z, which meshes with and drives wheel a? on the shaft which carries back crushing-roller J. A pinion a on this shaft meshes with gear-wheel a for driving roller J with a gear-wheel above it for driving roller J and with a gear-wheel a, the latter 1 imparting-motion to the gear-wheel g on the lower grip-roller Q,"which, through the other gear-wheel g, drives the elastic roller Q and belts S, V, andU.

The pulley W is provided with two faces one to receive the driving-belt 0 and the other made with a plain or straight face covered with'leather to give a frictional surface. This pulley W revolves upon an eccentric shaft Z, which is made to oscillate by means of the lever Y, secured thereto, whereby the drivingsurface of pulley (V is thrown from contact with the fiat pulley R, where the tension of the driving-belt o normally keeps it, into contact with the fiat pulley R, which causes a reverse motion to be given to the drums P P by pressing down upon the "lever Yl This lever Y may extend out horizontally, as shown in Fig. 2, or it may be inclined downwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, to bring it nearer the floor. The moment the pressure is removed the tension of the driving-belt 0 brings the frictionpulley \V to its former position and keeps it there until required for reversing the drums P and P again. The pulleys R and It have faces to suit those of the pulley W, as desired, their position being upon the outside ends of the two drum-shafts P and P and for the purpose already described.

As a matter of expediency, it is important that all the metallic surfaces with which the material being operated upon comes in contact should have a brass facing, for the reason that iron and similar metals corrode and so injure the fiber.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1, The combination,with feeding-rollers,of crushing-rollers located behind and in a plane with the feeding-rollers and reciprocating intersectin g breaker-plates located immediately below the crushing-rollers, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with feeding-rollers, of rollers J J J arranged substantially as shown reciprocating breakers located below the crushing-rollers, and a curved deflector for guiding the material from the rollers J J down between rollers J J, substantially as set forth.

3. In a fiber stripping and cleaning machine, the combination, with double reciprocating intersecting breakers, of rollers for feeding material thereto and rotary cleaning scrapers, substantially as set forth.

4. In a fiber stripping and cleaning machine, the combination, with double reciprocating intersecting breakers, of rotary cleaning-scrapers located below the breakers, substantially as set forth.

5. In a fiber stripping and cleaning machine, the combination, with double reciprocating intersecting breakers, of rotary cleanin g-scrapers, and mechanism, substantially as described, for rotating and reversing the scrapers, substantially as forth.

6. In a fiber stripping and cleaning machine, the combination, with two sets of intersecting breaker-plates and means for reciprocating both sets of plates, of rotary cleaning-scrapers and shiftable devices for rotating and reversing the scrapers, substantially as set forth.

7. In a fiber stripping and cleaning ma chine, the combination, with two sets of intersectingbreaker-plates and eccentric mechanism for reciprocating both sets of breakerplates, of rotary cleaning-scrapers and shiftable devices for rotating and for reversing the scrapers, substantially as set forth.

8. In a fiber stripping and cleaning machine, the combination, with two sets of slotted interlocking reciprocating breaker-plates and means for reciprocating both sets, of rotary cleaning-scrapers and shiftable driving devices for rotating and for reversing the motion of said scrapers, substantially as set forth.

9. In a fiber-stripping machine, the combination, with double reciprocating breakers, eccentrics having provisions for adjusting the throw thereof, and pitmen connecting the eccentrics and breakers, of rotary cleaning-scrapers for receiving the material as it leaves the breakers.

IIO

10. In a fiber-stripping machine, the combination, with double reciprocating breakers, eccentrics having provisions for adjusting the throw thereof, and the pitmen connecting the eccentrics and breakers, of rotary cleaning scrapers each having a friction-pulley, and a driving friction-pulley provided with means whereby it may be moved into contact with the pulley on either scraper substantially as set forth.

11. The combination, with feed rollers, crushing-rollers located behind the same, and a curved deflecting-plate located adjacent to the crushing-rollers for deflecting the material downwardly as it leaves the crushingrollers, of intersecting, reciprocating breakerplates located below the crushing-rollers, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination, with a feed-plate, feed-rollers, one of which is vertically movable, a stop-board, and crushing-rollers, of

.double reciprocating breakers beneath the crushing-rollers and a deflecting-plate for guiding the material from the crushing-rollers to the breakers, substantially as set forth.

13. In a fiber stripping and cleaning machine, the combination, with feed mechanism, double reciprocating breakers, and eccentrics for actuating the breakers, having provisions for adjusting the throw thereof, of rotary cleaning-scrapers, shiftable driving devices for rotating and reversing the motion of the latter, and grip-rollers and conveyer-belts, substantially as set forth.

14. In a fiber stripping and cleaning machine, the combination, with a feed-apron,

versing the motion of said scrapers, griprollers, and conveyer-belts, substantially as set forth.

15. The combination, with'interlocking reciprocating slotted breakers arranged as described, whereby a continuous passage :through the slots is alternately made and ibroken, a cover over the breakers, and a trumpet to guide material between them, of

eccentricmechanism for actuating said breakers simultaneously in opposite directions,

- substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 55 ing witnesses.

JAMES L. MYERS. Witnesses:

S. G. NOTTINGHAM, V. E. Honens. 

